Legal Update

In this week’s case, the Seventh Circuit explores the scope and limitations implicit within the reasonable suspicion requirement, as applied in the context of an officer-suspect pat down during the execution of a traffic stop. The general standard governing a suspect pat-down during a traffic stop requires that, “To justify a pat-down of a driver or a passenger during a traffic stop, the police […]

Post the Supreme Court’s ruling inVega v. Tekoh, today we will highlight a case from the Eleventh Circuit that focuses on when Miranda rights should be read and when they do not have to be based on whether or not a person is in custody. In the Miranda context, a person is in custody when he/she finds themself in “circumstances that are thought generally

Our case today arises from a decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The suspect today fell victim to a false advertisement published by an undercover agent, and was subsequently arrested for engaging in said ad. The suspect claims that the officers lacked probable cause in arresting him. Although the officers did not have a warrant for his arrest, the suspect’s illegal intentions

Today’s case from the Eighth Circuit is an interesting one, mainly because it involves a wannabe lawyer who may or may not be involved in sex trafficking. Before we dive in to this crazy case, let’s review the preparation of a warrant with a special focus on establishing probable cause using hearsay: There are three key components to a search warrant: (1) particularity of

Our case comes to us today from the Eighth Circuit. The themes surrounding this case include involuntary statements and the plain view doctrine. First, what makes a statement involuntary during an interrogation? According to United States v. Vega, “A statement is involuntary when it was extracted by threats, violence, or express or implied promises sufficient to overbear the defendant’s will and critically impair his

Today’s case out of the Seventh Circuit proves that you should be careful when using an informant who has an axe to grind. An FBI agent finally took the bait from Stafford Garbutt to look into misconduct at a government agency, after he was demoted and stripped of his title. Often when dealing with cases that involve agents of the government, there are different

Officers in our case today, United States v. Cole, had suspicions of drug activity and used what could potentially be seen as stalling tactics to ensure that a canine could arrive on the scene. According to the 2015 SCOTUS case, Rodriquez v. US, a seizure justified only by a police-observed traffic violation “becomes unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete